Don't make a habit of it
by Boo112
Summary: Carla and Peter post-tram-crash.
1. Chocolate Surprises

_**Just a quick One-Shot. – Set after the episode in December 2010 where Carla tells Michelle that she loves Peter. However, Carla eventually accepts her offer of visiting him in hospital. **_

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Michelle and Carla arrived at the hospital, and were walking towards where Peter's room was in intensive care.

"Listen Carla, I'll just pop-in and see Peter okay? And then I'll leave you two alone for a bit. I'm sure you're gonna have a lot to chat about. And I think you need to, because once he's out of hospital, he's gonna be enjoying his newly-wed life, so I'd chat to him now, before you can't track him down, alright love?" Michelle told Carla truthfully.

"Alright then. And thanks love, this means a lot." Carla thanks Michelle as they reached the door to Peter's room.

"Are you ready?" Michelle asked her, and Carla took a deep-breath-in as Michelle gently squeezed her sister-in-law's/best-friend's hand.

"Yeah." Carla said as she released the breath before the pair of them walked-in.

"Oh Michelle he's asleep, I don't wanna wake-him!" Carla said to Michelle quietly as she backed-off.

"Uh, you're talking to him whether he likes it or not. Now wake-him-up. Listen you. Peter and you are really close friends, so close that I thought you were having a flippin' affair didn't I? He'll be delighted to see ya! Now wake-him-up!" Michelle encouraged Carla, and eventually Carla gave-in and gently shook Peter's arm.

"Peter." She said quietly, and Peter immediately began to stir from his sleep.

"Leanne?" He questioned as his eyes were still focussing after being asleep for a while.

"No m'love…..It's Carla." Carla said gently, and suddenly Peter's eyes looked much more awake, and a smile grew across Peter's face.

"Carla!" He said happily.

"Hey. It's good to see you smiling! Michelle's here too!" Carla told-him.

"Oh right, hi Michelle." He said politely, he liked Michelle as a friend, but his main-focus was on the fact that Carla was there, right infront of him.

"Hiya Mate. I'm not gonna stay, but I just thought I'd pop-in to say hi!" Michelle said, rather chirpily before she headed towards the door and then left.

"Oh okay." Peter said before he turned his head to look at Carla. "You don't know how pleased I am to see you." Peter told her sweetly.

"Hey, not half as made-up as I am to see You." Carla told him quietly, she didn't want to cause him any pain so she was trying to keep her voice quiet so that he remained calm.

"How are you anyway?" Peter asked Carla, that was typical Peter, never-mind the fact that he was laying in hospital bed having not long had life-saving surgery, he wanted to know how Carla was.

"You see, why are YOU the one asking ME that ey? You're too kind for your own good Mmmister Barlow." Carla joked, before she paused as she just looked at Peter, she observed all of his injuries, and how painful they must have been for him to endure. And the dust mark left on his jaw from the explosion just made Carla fall in love with him all the more. "Anyway, how have You been? Sorry that's a stupid question, I meant what are the doctor's saying? No no no no no sorry you don't have to answer that!" Carla said in a panic. She really didn't want to upset him.

"Carla." Peter said calmly as he interrupted her panicking.

"No I shouldn't be being so nosey; you're in hospital for goodness sake!" Carla said, annoyed with herself.

"Carla stop-it." Peter said, interrupting her again as he gently took her hand into his.

Carla stopped panicking and just looked at Peter. "Listen to me. I'm fine. Yes I'm a bit bruised and battered, and everything hurts if I move, but you don't need to worry about me Carla." Peter paused as a cheeky smile grew on his face. "I'm a big boy." He joked as he laughed slightly.

"Oh Peter look what you do to me eh? You've got me all flustered. But really, how is everything? Bet you'll be glad to see the back of this place ey?" Carla asked him sympathetically.

"Yeah I'm beginning to get bored stiff led in this….." Peter said as he shifted uncomfortably.

"Are you alright?" She asked him as she gently placed her hand onto his shoulder and helped him to move.

"I will be." Peter said breathlessly.

"Hey you just take it easy ey? I don't wanna pro-long your boredom." Carla told him with a soft-giggle.

"I could never get bored with you around Carla." Peter practically whispered to her as he pulled her hand towards his lips, and then kissed the back of it.

"Oy you, you're married, and I could do without the encouragement thank-you very-much!" Carla teased as she gave Peter's hand a quick squeeze.

"Oh…..Sorry….." Peter said innocently, before he winked at Carla.

And with that, Carla caught Michelle's face in the window of the door, and that signalled to her that it was time for her to leave.

"Anyway you, sorry to leave you in a state of total-boredom love…..But Michelle's waiting outside, so I suppose I should go." Carla told Peter truthfully, still gripping onto his hand like it was the last-bit she had left of him.

"Okay." Peter said with a sweet and understanding smile. He was just glad that Carla had bothered to make the effort to come and see him. Even-though he secretly knew that it was most-probably Michelle's idea and that Carla had to be dragged kicking and screaming all the way to the hospital and all the way to the room that they were in now.

"You look after yourself yeah? If you need anything…..And I mean anything…..Just let me know, and I'll see what I can do okay. Sorry I woke you up." Carla said with a cheeky-wink before she then kissed Peter's hand, in return for his-kiss earlier and then giggled slightly.

"Well I could murder a packet of malteasers….." Peter joked.

"Uh Peter Barlow, I don't think the Nurses would be very impressed with that. Do You?" Carla said sarcastically as she all of a sudden reminded Peter of his English Teacher from when he was at Secondary School." Carla laughed and then smiled sweetly at Peter. "Cya Soon Peter." She said as he watched Peter close his eyes with a smile on his face.

"Cya Carla." He said as he drifted back-off to sleep.

As Carla and Michelle headed-out of the hospital, Carla told Michelle that she would meet-her by the car, before she then rushed-back to get-something.

She quietly crept into Peter's room, placed something down onto his table, and then ripped some spare paper off the edge of the Doctor's notes, before she started to write something-down.

_Here's those malteasers you asked for. Don't a habit of it will ya?...I almost got caught by one of the Nurses. Stay out-of trouble my love._

_Lots of love and hugs as always. From Carla. XxX._

Carla wrote before she placed the note on-top of the malteasers, and then she crept out of the room un-noticed.

"Where did you get to?" Michelle asked her as they were re-united by Michelle's car.

"Oh, well I urm…..I went and forgot my handbag didn't I?" Carla lied, Michelle could've sworn she had her handbag with her when they had left the room that Peter was in. But she chose to say no more about it as the two best-friend's/sister-in-law's drove-home together.

Later that afternoon, Peter awoke from his slumber and immediately spotted the malteasers with the note on-top of them. He picked the note-up and read-it as a growing-wide-smile spread right-across his face.

"Thank-You Carla." Peter whispered as he kissed the note on the part which had Carla's name written-on-it, and then smiled like he had never smiled-before as he then drifted back-off to sleep-again.

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_**So I hope you enjoyed that!**_

**_:). Please-Review! :). _**


	2. Back On The Street

**Hey! So this fic is no-longer a one-shot as I've decided to carry this story-on, just for a few more chapters! **

**It's the New Year. (January 2011.) And Carla and Peter haven't seen each-other since she visited him in hospital before Christmas.**

Peter was out and about on the street on his crutches, trying to get used to using them, so he no-longer had to be restricted to using his wheel-chair.

He leant against the wall out-side of the Bookie's, as he forced a packet of cigarette's out of his jeans pocket, and then took one out and lit-it as he balanced-it between his lips, he remained leaned against the wall, as he was not yet able to balance himself upright on his own without the support of his crutches.

"Happy New Year!" Peter heard a familiar-voice call from along the street to where he was stood. The familiar-voice that belonged to none-other than Carla Connor.

Peter could hear her footsteps getting closer to him so prepared himself to talk to his good-friend again as he figured that she would want to chat to him.

"To you too love….." Peter trailed-off with the fag still in his mouth. He spoke in his usually low and deep voice, which was slightly croaky from where was smoking.

"How were ya Christmas?" She asked-him kindly as she stopped infront of him.

"Boring. Yours?" Peter told Carla truthfully as he smoked some more of his cigarette.

"Oh come-on ya Scrooge, I'm sure it wasn't that bad, was it? But mine was great thank-you, and before you ask, no I didn't have a drink! So be proud of me." Carla told Peter, pleased with herself that she had managed to force herself to be strong, so she had resisted temptation.

"Good." He replied with a small-smile.

"So what was wrong with your Christmas then ey? Run out of Malteasers did we?" Carla joked, referring back to when she had visited him in hospital.

"Oh Haaa, Haaa, Haaa." Peter replied sarcastically. "Thanks for getting me those by the way. But anyway, back to Christmas, I just got fed-up of everyone offering to do things for me. I mean…..Just 'cause I can't walk it doesn't mean that I have to sit-around doing nothing all-day every-day!" Peter said, getting slightly frustrated at just the very-thought of it.

"Oh well aren't you just Mister Happy today?" Carla said, in her uniquely sarcastic-manner. "Jokes…..I know it can't be easy for ya….." She said, deciding that this wasn't the best time to fall-out with one of her closest-and-best-friends.

"No I mean-it Carla. Why's everyone being so nice to me? I'm still me Carla, I just can't walk that's all!" Peter ranted angrily.

"Hey take it easy will ya?" Carla told Peter firmly, but she couldn't be angry with him, not-ever, let-alone after what he had been through in the past couple of months.

"No I will not!" He continued.

"Peter….." Carla softened, figuring that this was the only-way to get-through to him today.

"What?" Peter replied harshly, finishing the last of his cigarette-off and stubbing-it out against the wall before he then threw-it to the floor.

"You're acting like you broke ya leg playing football or something…..But you didn't…..That tram-crash almost killed-ya Peter, and it caused ya to have life-saving heart-surgery, of-course people are gonna be trying to help you out, and do everything for ya…..It's just what people do when a disaster like this happens….." Carla trailed-off as Peter interrupted-her.

"A disaster that killed a good-mate of mine….." He told Carla sadly.

"I know, I know it did." Carla paused for thought. "But that's why you've gotta start looking on the bright-side darlin'…..Ashley wouldn't want to see ya like this would he ey?" Carla suggested to Peter.

"No he wouldn't….." Peter whispered to Carla as a tear fell-down his cheek.

"Hey it's alright. Come-Here." Carla said, as she gently hugged-him, being careful not to throw him off balance, or hurt-him in anyway.

The couple hugged, and as they did so…..Carla whispered to something to Peter….."So, dya fancy some Malteasers from Dev's?" She asked him cheekily.

Peter laughed quietly as Carla helped him get his balance back with his crutches. She helped him along the Street to Dev and Sunita's Shop.

"Thank-You….." Peter said to Carla, slightly happier in her company now, as they reached the outside of the shop together.

"For What?" Carla asked.

"For Just…..Being You…..I Guess?" Peter replied calmly, with a small-smile resting upon his face.

"Oh…..Well that's alright…..I suppose….." Carla said to Peter as the couple caught one-another's eyes, and they couldn't seem to distract themselves from each-others gaze.

Eventually, Carla broke the awkward-silence. "So is this where we kiss or what then?" Carla joked.

"Not today ey Carla?" Peter said, returning the joke as the pair of them headed into the shop.


	3. Twisted Temptations

**Okay so I've decided to leave this fic pretty open. As long as I have an idea, then I'll post a new chapter! Then when I run out of ideas I'll finish it off. But my plan is for it to end on the tram-crash anniversary! . **

**I'll take on board any suggestions if you have any ideas for this fic! . **

**This chapter is set in late January 2011. .**

Peter led across the sofa at his flat as he watched Leanne waiting on him hand and foot. He felt bad that he couldn't help her, he HAD offered, but she wouldn't let him. But the upside was that it gave Peter the chance to think about things. But just one thing in particular…..A person…..A beautiful woman…..His best female friend…..Carla Connor.

Peter had told Carla just back in November that she was gorgeous, 'off the scale' gorgeous…..As he had put-it back-then, before the tram-crash. Peter felt strangely closer to Carla since the tram-crash. He had been there for her before, and he had kind-of hoped that her feelings for him would fade, but they hadn't, Peter knew that for sure. But there was something that Peter quite liked about the whole situation.

He had denied ever having had feelings for Carla, to everyone…..Even Ken, his own Father…..And even Carla herself…..But truly, and deep-down inside, Peter adored Carla. He thought that she was amazing. Yeah he still loved Leanne, but Carla was different, Carla just got-him, Leanne did her best yes, but she couldn't share the same bond that him and Carla did, and she never could share that bond with Peter, no-matter how hard she tried to understand his alcoholism. But she was no Carla.

"You're quiet love." Leanne said, concerned about her now husband, as she sat along the back of the sofa.

"What was that love?" Peter asked, lost in his own little world of Carla-based-thoughts.

"I said, you're quiet. What's up?" Leanne asked Peter, concerned for him after everything that had happened in the past 2 months, with the tram-crash 'n' all…..

"Ohhh it's nothing love. I'm just aching a bit today, that's all….." Peter trailed-off. It was almost the truth…..He was aching…..Aching to see Carla.

"Awww." Leanne said as she leaned-over and cupped Peter's cheek with her hand as she kissed the top of his head. "Maybe we should try and get an early night tonight then ey?" Leanne suggested, gently stroking his short but soft hair.

"Lee, I'm in no-fit state to be doing that am I love?" Peter told Leanne firmly, but Leanne hadn't meant anything like that.

"Heyyy I didn't mean it like that now did I?" Leanne told Peter truthfully as she stood-up and then walked around the sofa, crouching-down next to where he was led.

"Oh really? Then stop suggesting it then ey?" Peter said, now in a grump as he folded his arms and looked-away from Leanne.

"Oh Peter come-on, you know I wouldn't suggest anything like that at the moment…..Not after what you've been through these past couple of months…..I'm just worried about ya that's all….." Leanne told Peter softly, taking his furthest-away cheek into her hand and pushing him towards-her so that he was forced to look her in the eyes.

"Yeah well stop worrying about me!" Peter said firmly and frustratedly as he shoved Leanne's hand away from his face.

"Alright, Okay!" Leanne said, not wanting to start an argument with him, so she just left him alone for a bit, until he was in a better-mood.

Meanwhile, Peter was texting Carla.

**Peter: **_Can we meet?_

**Carla:**_ Of-Course. Y?_

**Peter: **_I need 2 get out. Leanne is drivin me crazy. _

**Carla: **_She's just worried Peter. U can hardly blame her can u?_

**Peter: **_Yh, so she said. Look can we meet or not? _

**Carla: **_I said yh. Where we meetin?_

**Peter: **_Roys? Gimme 10 Mins._

**Carla: **_K. C u there. _

Peter had soon made his excuses to Leanne, and she had helped him down the stairs, before he then headed-off to Roys Rolls to meet Carla, she was already there.

"Hey." Peter said in a low-pitched voice as he approached Carla from behind.

Carla immediately recognised his voice as she turned-around in her seat as she stood-up and then greeted Peter with a gentle hug.

"Are you okay?" She asked, concerned for him.

"Not really no….." He trailed-off, looking-down sadly.

"Hey listen. Why don't you sit-down, and I'll get you a coffee ey? On Me. Then we can have a chat….."

Peter nodded and took a seat whilst Carla brought the coffee's over. "Thanks." He said quietly as Carla placed the coffee down onto the table infront of him.

"It's no-problem." Carla said with a small-smile as she sat-down opposite Peter. "Now are you gonna tell-me what's-up or not?" Carla asked him, concerned for Peter.

Peter took a large-sip of the steaming-hot-coffee before he put the cup-down and then swallowed the liquid harshly down his throat.

"You don't know what it's like Carla…..No-one around-here does…..Not being able to walk without crutches, knowing that your heart is so weak, that if you over-do-it just by the tiniest-bit, then you'll probably collapse into a heap….." Peter said, unable to look Carla in the eyes as he spoke.

Carla's heart melted for Peter as he spoke. She felt so unbelievably sorry for him. "Oh Peter, it must be hell for ya, but you've gotta stay positive darlin', and don't tell me that it's impossible at the moment, because I know for a fact that it isn't, not if you try hard-enough. I'm not saying that it's not gonna be difficult…..But you've gotta try…..Haven't ya?" Carla said, taking Peter's hand from across the table, and giving-it a comforting squeeze as she shot him a sympathetic smile.

"I suppose so….." Peter said, not moving her hand away from his, which was unusual for Peter when he was down. He usually rejected comfort more than anything-else when he was upset about something.

"That didn't sound very-convincing." Carla told Peter straightly.

"Yeah well maybe I'm in need of something a little-stronger than coffee this-morning….." Peter told her truthfully.

"Heyyy come-on you don't mean that do ya Peter?" Carla asked him, worriedly.

"Yes I flamin' well mean-it." Peter said frustratedly, but keeping his voice down as they were in the café.

"Well I was gonna say I should probably get to work, but I don't know if wanna leave you alone now…..I'm not gonna let you drink Peter…..I can't let you do that, you know that better than anyone." Carla told Peter, her hand still gripped-onto his.

"Carla you know aswell as I do that a drink would heal some of the mental pain, if not the physical pain!" Peter told her firmly, and Carla could hardly argue with him as he struggled to his feet, she had been there, in that similar-situation of needing a drink too many times to disagree with him today. Carla also stood-up as Peter began to struggle towards the doors of the café.

"Peter." She said.

"What Carla?" Peter asked harshly, out of breath from where getting-up out of his seat had taken so much energy from him, and Carla could see-that.

"Talk to Leanne. And whatever you do, and however your feeling right now, promise-me that you won't turn to the bottle…..Promise-Me Peter!" Carla said, practically begging-him not to drink. Because the state that Peter was in right-now, just one-tiny sip of alcohol could put him in hospital, or if worst came to worst, it could kill-him-off forever! And Carla just simply couldn't live without him now she had fallen truly in love with him, despite the fact that he felt differently.

"I'm not making a promise that I can't keep Carla…..But I'll try alright?" Peter told Carla truthfully.

"Okay. I suppose that'll have to do for now. But I'm walking you home! I'm not letting you get drunk the minute I'm out of sight, when I know fully-well that I could've done something to stop ya!" Carla said, cheekily winking at Peter as she put a hand on his back and then helped him back home to Leanne.


	4. My Saviour

_**Thanks for all of your kind reviews guys! They're really encouraging so please continue to review each-chapter! .**_

_**It's the start of February 2011, the night when Peter calls Carla for help because he's drunk. – There are bits of the story that are different so it's not the same as the way Corrie did it. You'll see what I mean as you read-it. .**_

Nick was _'busy,' _and Leanne couldn't know. She couldn't find-out, so there was only one person left to call, Leanne wouldn't be particularly happy about it, but at-least she would answer phone.

"_Hello Peter!" _Carla answered chirpily.

"_Carla, help-me!"_ Peter said, slurring his words from where he was drunk.

"_Are you drunk?" _She asked, all of the happiness in her voice had suddenly dissolved into thin-air.

"_What d'you think?" _He slurred-down the phone; it was obvious that he had-had far too much to drink. But then-again, just the tiniest sip was too-much for the likes-of Peter Barlow.

"_Oh Peter." _Carla sighed sadly.

"_Help-Me Carla." _Peter repeated in a sob.

_"Alright…..Alright I'll help ya…..Listen, where are ya sweetheart?" _Carla asked, it was going-out of her way a little-bit, but she would do anything to help Peter-out of a hole. And this-one was one big-drunken-hole.

"_The Flat." _He cried drunkardly.

"_Okay. Well listen to me then. You stay put. And I'll be there ASAP alright? Don't do anything stupid." _Carla said, not bothering to say bye to the drunk Peter before she hung-up and then immediately left her place and headed-for Peter's flat.

Carla wondered whether Peter would need help getting down the stairs, especially in his drunken-state with his crutches. But she decided to stay in the car as she wound the window down so she could hear if he was struggling. She made the decision to ring him so he knew that she was waiting for him.

"_Ello?"_ Peter answered drunkenly.

"_It's Carla. I'm 'ere." _Carla said before she put the phone-down.

Peter made his way down the stairs, a mystery cut on his arm which was bleeding quite heavily. He eventually appeared at his flat-door in a drunken-state. Carla immediately got out of the car to make-sure that he locked the door before helping him into the car.

"Come on then you." Carla said softly, laying Peter's crutches across the back-seats before getting him belted-in and then getting-into the drivers' seat and taking-him back to her flat.

They eventually reached Carla's-flat and she sat-him down on the sofa, rolling his sleeve-up to treat his wounded-arm. "What did you do?" She asked-Peter, concerned for him as the cut seemed quite-deep.

"I dunno….." He replied.

"Ah course ya don't ya drunk….." Carla trailed-off as she cleaned-up the wound before putting a bandage around-it. She normally hated blood, and she was only just about managing to get-through this, but she had to be strong for Peter right-now…..She needed to be.

"You alright m'love?" She asked.

"Only because of you." Replied a drunken-Peter, as he gently placed his right-hand against her right-cheek.

"Hey don't you worry about that. You know I'm always here for ya…..My Mate." Carla said, removing Peter's hand from her cheek and taking a hold of it.

"You're the only one." He added-on to the end of Carla's sentence.

"Uh that's not true Peter and you know it. You've got Leanne; you've Kieran…..Nick….." Carla paused before she said Nick's name…..Did he really have nick on his side? Carla doubted-it somehow.

"But I don't have Ashley!" He snapped back at her before bursting into tears. "Ashley….." He repeated as Carla placed her nearest hand onto Peter's back and gently rubbed-it as she tried to soothe and comfort-him.

Peter eventually cried-himself-out and fell-asleep in Carla's arms as she hugged-him gently. After sitting with him for 10 Minutes, Carla carefully moved the injured-man so that he was leaning-against the sofa instead of her, and then went to boil the kettle, so that she could have a coffee before she went to bed.

Carla made herself a cup of coffee before going into her bedroom to get her Pyjama's on. She then re-appeared into the living-room to check-up on Peter, and he was just beginning to wake-up as Carla sat along the back-edge of the sofa, watching-over Peter as he stirred from his sleep.

"Feeling better for that?" Carla asked as his eyes slowly-opened.

"Urgh, no." Peter groaned as he tried to sit-himself-up, but his back still pained-him whenever he moved.

"Hah. I'm not surprised." Carla teased gently as she helped Peter to sit-up and then rested her hand onto his shoulder, squeezing it lightly. "Dya want a coffee?" She asked him sweetly.

"No. But I'd be grateful for some parcetemol." Peter said as he held the back of his head in pain.

"The joys of a hangover ey?" Carla teased as she stood-up to go and get Peter some water and some tablets to get rid of the banging-headache that he had right at this moment.

"Something like that yeah….." Peter trailed-off as Carla brought the water and tablets over. "Thanks." He said before taking two of them together and swallowing them down as he noticed the bandage on his arm. Carla followed his sight-line down to the bandage.

"Still can't remember then?" Carla asked as she sat-down next to him.

"Did you put this bandage on it?" Peter asked Carla, confused by the whole-situation.

"Yeah I did, you might wanna get the cut checked-out though…..It looked nasty…..I only just managed to sort you out without passing-out myself….." Carla told Peter.

"Ohhh…..Sorry about that….." Peter trailed-off, he felt guilty for putting so much pressure on Carla now. She had practically been forced to look-after-him, and Peter was 100% sure that Carla had better things that she could be spending her time doing at the moment, rather-than caring for him and his hangover.

"Oh don't worry about it." Carla shrugged-it-off, knowing that Peter would have been in a much worse state right-now if she hadn't of picked-him-up from the flat. "Listen Peter it's getting late. You should probably be getting home, Leanne will be getting worried about ya."

"Might even think I've started drinking again….." Peter added-on, a dark sarcasm in his voice.

"Peter don't joke about that." Carla told Peter.

"I wasn't joking…..Leanne's gonna be worried sick about Me, Carla. But I can't go back to her, not tonight whilst I stink of booze. Tomorrow, fine, I'll go back and face the music. But tonight, I just to need to rest in hope that it's all gone in the morning." Peter told Carla truthfully.

"But Peter darlin' it's not gonna all be gone in the morning…..Is It? Yeah you won't stink of alcohol, and yes the effects of the hangover will have gone, but the temptation, the depression, the grief that you're experiencing right-now, that's not gonna go-away over-night Peter…..It'll take weeks, months even. That tram-crash…..It'll always be in the back of ya mind…..Forever Peter, it's gonna change your life, and you've just gotta learn to move past-it my darlin'….." Carla told Peter gently, not wanting to upset him, but he had to know that it was gonna take-time for him to get-over the traumatic experiences which he had been through in the past couple of months.

"Yeah well it's been on repeat ever since I woke-up in that hospital bed…..I close my eyes and I'm back-there, trapped in that rubble, nothing but pain-shooting through my whole body, unable to breath without nearly passing-out in pain." Peter said as she began to shake in fear.

"You're traumatised Peter. You need to talk to someone about this. You don't just go to hell and back without returning with some kind of mental-scar…..Something that's gonna affect the way you live the rest of your life." Carla said as her hand slowly returned to Peter's back, slowly rubbing in a circular-motion.

"I just wish it would all go-away Carla…..I'm scared...I'm terrified of re-living that night…..Experiencing that pain again….."

Carla thought for a while as Peter finished speaking, before she made a decision. "Right, it's too late for you to go home now, but you can sleep on this sofa alright, I'll bring a blanket through, and if you need me at all, I'm just next-door. Then we can see how you are in the morning…..And then you'll have to go home and somehow try to explain to Leanne where you've been…..And what you've told-me tonight…..Okay?"

And Peter nodded before Carla helped-him to lay-back into the sofa and watched-him until he closed his eyes.

"Goodnight Peter." She whispered before she headed-into her bedroom, leaving Peter sleeping.


	5. True Feelings

_**It's been a week since Peter called Carla for help. Peter has just left the Barlow's house having just found-out from Tracy about Leanne and Nick's affair. **_

Peter Barlow stormed along the cobbles with his crutches, trying his best not to burst into floods of tears right-now. Leanne, his own wife was cheating on him. Peter couldn't believe it, after everything that Nick had done for him during the tram-crash…..It was all worthless now…..He didn't really want to save Peter's life…..He just wanted Leanne to think that he was a hero…..Pft. Some Hero that would be.

"In a hurry?" Carla called from across the street.

"Oh shut-up will you Carla?" Peter responded, not in the mood for flirting at the moment, he refused to stoop as low as Leanne and Nick had done.

"Oh well I'm sorry for being friendly….." Carla said, slightly irritated at Peter's attitude as she caught-up with him and walked with him.…..It was more like a run to be honest, he was walking so fast that Carla was struggling to keep-up with him.

"You knew didn't ya? All this time and you knew!" Peter shouted at her.

"Uh. I knew what exactly?" Carla asked innocently.

"Argh, you know what! You just knew!" Peter repeated himself.

"Urm, I know a lot of things Peter, but what you're thinking right now ain't one of them things…..Dya care to explain?" Carla asked, trying to be calm as it was obvious that Peter was upset about something.

"My Wife and Nick 'flaming' Tildsley!" Peter said, his teeth gritted as he spoke with a high-level of anger into Carla's face.

"Oh….." Carla trailed-off, suddenly realising why Peter looked just-about ready to explode right-now. "Peter this is something you need to discuss with your wife. Not me….." Carla said, trying to leave the subject behind as she tried to walk-away, but Peter's hand on her arm stopped-her from doing-so.

"Oh no you don't. I need you to explain to me…..I want to know what's going on between those two…..And I wanna know whether it's worth renewing my vows in a few-days time!" Peter told her furiously.

The pair of them headed-up to Peter's flat. Peter knew that Leanne was out for the day, so they were quite-safe up-there together.

Carla sat down on the sofa as Peter leant against the wall, watching Carla's every-move as she began speaking.

"Listen Darlin', whatever you may or may not be thinking right-now, it's always been you that Leanne has loved. Nick Tildsley was just someone that she just couldn't resist. She feels awful about the whole thing Peter." Carla said, trying to defend Leanne, but also feeling sorry for Peter at the same-time.

"Yeah, and alcohol was something that I just couldn't resist, but I gave it-up, and I gave-it-up for Leanne! And yeah, I feel awful too when I go back on the booze behind Leanne's back, but at-least I don't have a flamin' affair with it!" Peter shouted, physically shaking as he became close to tears.

"Exactly Peter. Everytime you've gone back on the booze, Leanne's been at home waiting for ya…..And Everytime, she forgives ya! Maybe you could forgive her too….." Carla suggested to Peter.

"Yeah but the difference is Carla that I have a problem, I'm an alcoholic, once I've had a drink I can't stop drinking…..It's an illness, a condition that I constantly have to fight against. Leanne's affair with Nick ain't no illness Carla! She's not addicted to Nick, not like I am to the booze. All she wants from Nick is what she can't have from me…..Because I'm a cripple who can't do anything, except laze around all day and get drunk….." Peter said as he sat-down on the sofa, joining Carla as the first-few-tear-drops fell-down from his eyes.

"Well if Nick is giving her what you can't give her, then surely it works the same for booze. The alcohol gives you what a glass of water can't….."

"STOP. DEFENDING. LEANNE!" Peter interrupted.

"Alright. I'm sorry…..I'm just trying to make you see that…..That Leanne regrets this more than anything in the world Peter!" Carla told-him truthfully.

"Shut-up Carla….." Peter trailed-off frustratedly.

Carla sighed. "Ya know what Peter…..I could be sat-here right now encouraging you to dump Leanne because I want nothing more than to get you into my bed…..I've been wanting it for months…..But I'm not doing that…..Am I? I want ya to see it from Leanne's side Peter! I want ya to be able to forgive her!" Carla said, raising her voice a little-now. She hated his stubborn side.

"Oh here she goes again…..Acting like she's the innocent one in all of this…..The fact is Carla, you're one of my closest-friends. You knew about Leanne and Nick! Yet you decided to keep-it from me? Why Carla? You could've had me…..I could have been yours long-ago if I'd have known!…..Then maybe I wouldn't have ended-up in the Joinery on the night of the tram-crash, and then I wouldn't have been here with you just-now…..Wishing that Leanne wasn't a part of my life anymore….." Peter trailed-off, the tears getting the better of him as they started to run down his face more freely.

"Shh." Carla whispered as she put her arm around Peter. "It's okay. Just cry everything out? Okay?" She told Peter and he cried for a couple of minutes, before he caught eye-contact with Carla, that addictive gaze that they had returning to each-other as Carla leaned-in and brushed her lips softly against Peter's.

The couple kissed-softly before they just stared at each-other, and then kissed-again. "No…..This can't happen? I'm such a hypocrite Carla….." Peter panicked, not knowing where to put himself right at this very-moment.

"Then it makes you just as bad as Leanne…..Doesn't it? There you are…..Equals….." Carla whispered seductively, her lips still edging back-towards Peter's as their faces remained closely next to each-other.

"But…..I can hardly moan about Leanne running-off with Nick in her spare-time…..If I've just kissed another woman….." Peter replied quietly.

"No…..No ya can't. But maybe that's just how it's meant to be ey Peter? Leanne with Nick. You with Me?" Carla continued, keeping-up her seductive act. But Carla had a plan, and as much as it was gonna kill-her to pull-off this plan, she was hoping that it might just kick-Peter into action.

Peter leaned-in for another kiss, but Carla stopped him at the very-last-second, pressing her index finger against his lips.

"Are you sure about this?" Carla asked.

"Yes….." Peter replied, unconvincingly, as the pair kissed for the third-time that afternoon.

The kiss grew into a passionate one, but eventually, Peter pulled-away.

"NO. No I can't do this! Carla I'd like you to leave now…..Please Carla. Just leave!" Carla had to stop herself from smirking as Peter spoke these words.

"What are ya saying Peter?" Carla quizzed-him.

"I'm saying that I still love Leanne!" Peter shouted.

Finally, Carla let a smirk-out as she rose to her feet. "Good."

"What?" Peter asked, confused by the situation.

"Mission Accomplished Captain Barlow!" Carla replied sarcastically as she mock-saluted to Peter.

"Carla what the heck are you on about?" Peter asked her frustratedly.

"Peter Barlow. It took every bit of strength in me not to just seduce you there and then, whilst I still had the chance…..But I knew that if I pushed hard-enough you'd eventually reject-me…..And that's exactly what you did…..And that's exactly what I wanted you to do…..And I somehow just managed to stop myself from taking those kisses too far…..So go and find Leanne, Peter…..Talk-it through with her…..And if you still can't forgive her…..Then we'll finish-off what I wasn't meant to start in the first-place….." Carla told Peter before she left the flat, leaving Peter alone to think about what had just happened between the pair of them.

Peter couldn't quite get his head-around all of this. Carla had kissed-him, to make him realise that it was Leanne whom he loved…..And that he should forgive Leanne…..

"She's a complicated woman….." Peter said to himself as he thought about what to do next.


	6. Unstable

**Peter and Leanne have returned back from their holiday three days ago after getting back together after their disastrous wedding. (Sorry I've missed out the Peter/Leanne/Nick fall-out bit! .) I know Peter was still using his crutch to walk in the actual Corrie Storyline, but for the sake of this fic, he is off the crutches now! :). **

* * *

Peter and Leanne were heading to the Rovers together, their arms linked together, and Leanne's chin resting on Peter's shoulder. Peter was starting to manage without his crutches now. Things were going well between the couple considering everything that had happened. Leanne was busy making it up to Peter whenever she could, aswell as avoiding Nick at all-costs, and Peter had put his little-kiss with Carla a few-weeks back to the back of his brain. His mind wasn't in the right-place back-then. Leanne never had to know. Peter was trying his best not to think about what Leanne had done previously, her steamy-affair with Nick and everything, and it was proving difficult, but he knew that he loved her and wanted to try and forgive and forget about her wrong-doings, so that was all that mattered as-far as Peter was concerned.

"So how about we go for a drink and then get an early night ey?" Leanne suggested to Peter as they walked along The Street together.

"Urm…..Maybe love…..My Dad and Deirdre have had Simon all day today and last-night aswell….I think it's about time we had him back ey? Don't You?" Peter questioned with a small-smile.

"Yeah I suppose so. I just can't get enough of you at the moment." Leanne said as she pressed a soft and loving kiss against Peter's cheek.

"Well Good….." Peter trailed-off as his smile widened as they crossed the road together.

Walking along the other-side of The Street was Carla.

"Heya You Two." Carla said with a friendly smile.

"Hey!" Peter said happily, but Leanne didn't respond, despite everything she still hadn't forgiven Carla since the tram-crash, and everything that Carla had revealed to Leanne on that dreadful-evening, the night that Peter had nearly died!

"Are you not gonna say Hi then?" Peter asked Leanne.

"Why should I? She's no friend of mine Peter…..And I don't know why you're talking to her either. Most Men wouldn't run a mile with her track-record.

"Ohhh she's really going for it this time isn't she?" Carla Joked, but inside she was hurt that Leanne, her ex-best-friend couldn't forgive her for falling in love with Peter. It wasn't as if Peter had cheated on Leanne with Carla…..

"Well you can hardly blame me Carla!" Leanne argued-back.

"Uh I'm sorry Leanne. Just tell-me again, who was the one who had the affair and cheated on Peter?" Carla asked harshly.

"Alright that's enough Ladies." Peter interrupted trying to pull Leanne away before a fight broke-out.

"Uh, I think you'll find Carla that the affair with Nick has nothing to do with You and your feelings for Peter!" Leanne snapped-back.

"Oh it's "THE Affair" now is it? Like it's some sort of spectacular thing that happened? No Leanne, it was YOUR Affair, yours and Nick's, not Mine and Peter's, and it was certainly NOT spectacular! So just you remember that yeah?" Carla said, annoyed that Leanne was acting as if she hadn't done anything wrong when infact she had-done.

And with that Leanne lunged at Carla, with only Peter holding her back.

"LEANNE STOP IT!" Peter shouted he pulled-her off of Carla. "You're only making things worse!" Peter said angrily.

"Oh and she's not?" Leanne screamed.

"Now I didn't say that did I?" Peter replied.

"No he didn't, but he will do now!" Carla said behind gritted teeth as she slapped Leanne across the face.

"Oh Girls Please! Just quit already will ya?" Peter asked, annoyed with the both of them for their stupid-jealously-fuelled behaviour.

"Oh whatever. SHE. Is not worth my time. And SHE. Is definitely NOT. Worth YOURS either!" Leanne screeched before she stormed into the pub.

"Are you okay?" Peter asked Carla, both of them still stood outside the Rovers Return. Peter was still slightly frustrated, but he couldn't be angry, not with Carla anyway.

"Oh yeah I'm just fine. I've just been had a go at for having feelings…..Of-Course I'm okay….." Carla trailed-off, but Peter could tell that she was on the verge of tears as her voice began to wobble slightly.

"Are you sure about that?" Peter questioned, not believing that Carla was really okay in the slightest.

"No….." Carla said quietly, as the first-few tear-drops fell down her face and then down across her cheeks.

"Well I would offer to give you a hug, but one you just slapped my wife across the face and two I think Leanne would go crazy if she walked-out here now and saw us two hugging….." Peter said, adding a slight giggle on the end of his sentence to let Carla know what she was forgiven for the slap and that he was just joking-around.

"Ah that's a good-point." Carla said with a light-laugh.

"Yeah…..But listen honestly…..Leanne didn't mean what she said…..It was just…..A spur of the moment thing….." Peter said as he was interrupted by Carla.

"Oh no she meant it alright Peter…She meant every word…..But what I said? Nah…..I didn't mean that…..And tell Leanne that I'm sorry alright?" Carla told Peter with a soft-smile as she began to walk-off in the opposite-direction, but Peter stopped-her in her tracks.

"Hey where were you off too anyway? Before all of this started?" Peter asked.

"Oh I was just heading home for some tea….." Carla told Peter simply.

"Well why don't I give you a lift home then?" Peter asked.

"Uh, wouldn't Leanne be just the tiniest bit suspicious?" Carla questioned.

"I'll say I bumped into someone from the Support Group or something…..It's not totally a lie…..Is It? You've been there like…..Once…..Twice…..Maybe even Three Times at a push?" Peter Chuckled.

"Well on your head be it then Peter. Don't say I didn't warn-ya." Carla flirted as she cheekily-winked at Peter.

* * *

The pair of them had arrived back at Carla's flat in no-time and Carla had put the kettle-on to make Peter a drink with.

"Coffee? Tea?" Carla asked.

"Uh just a coffee for me please?" Peter asked. He felt comfortable at Carla's flat, and it was nice for him to be here when the both of them were 100% Sober, rather-than one of them being totally off-of their faces. But they had never fallen-off the wagon both at the same-time, which Peter supposed was a good-thing considering that the pair of them didn't have the happiest-lives individually.

Carla had soon made the coffee's and had gestured for Peter to take a seat on the sofa as she put the coffee's down onto the table before she then took a seat closely next to Peter on the sofa.

"So how are things with Leanne? Or…..How WERE things with Leanne before I came-along?" Carla asked.

"Things were great…..Except that now I'm starting to realise why it was so hard to forgive her in the first place….." Peter trailed-off sadly.

"Oh Yeah…..And why's that then?" Carla asked.

"Because I was fighting so hard to not give-into my feelings for you…..Yet she's just gone and given-in at the first-hurdle. That just proves that she married me because I was on my death-bed…..There was no love in our marriage….." Peter ranted-on, but he was interrupted by Carla.

"Peter Stop." Carla said. "The night of the tram-crash, the tears in Leanne's eyes, they were genuine Peter…..that girl, she adores ya…..And I have to admit Peter, it's not all that much of a challenge to fall-in-love with ya Peter. I should know. I know what it's like loving-you. And on that night, I could see it written all over Leanne's face…..And on your own. You and Leanne? You were meant to be together." Carla told Peter truthfully.

"Ya see. Why Carla? Just why? Why are you encouraging me to stay with Leanne and love her with all my heart, when we both know fully-well that all you really want to do is get me into your bed?" Peter asked, so frustrated that he didn't know how he felt about anyone anymore.

"Because Peter, you're my best-mate around here apart from Michelle! And I'm not gonna let you screw-up your marriage because of me alright? And yeah, I'd love to start an affair with you, kiss you in cut-off alley-ways, sneak-around because we've got something to hide, but I can't do that to ya Peter, and more importantly I can't do that to Leanne! And as much as I want to hate that girl right-now Peter, I just can't!" Carla said, practically begging-Peter to change the subject and then go-back-home to Leanne. His Wife.

"What if I said that I loved ya?" Peter asked desperately.

"I'd say you were lying." Carla replied, and Peter looked shocked. Carla laughed sarcastically. "HA. You don't love ME?" Carla said, not quite-wanting to believe-it just-yet.

"But I think I do Carla….." Peter said placing his hand onto the side of Carla's neck.

"Ya think ya do? Ya think ya love me? Well I'm gonna need a bit more of a confirmation than that Peter….." Carla trailed-off with a small-laugh; she wasn't quite sure how to react to this news that Peter apparently loved-her.

"Well I don't know do I…..My head's all messed-up at the moment….." Peter said, looking-down shamefully.

"And that's why we can't give-into this yet Peter…..If your mind isn't stable…..Then what chance have we got ey?" Carla told Peter, putting her hand against his cheek. "You need to sort ya life out Peter. You need to figure out how you really feel…..About Me? About Leanne? About Everyone." Carla suggested to Peter.

After a long-pause, Peter finally replied to Carla. "Just friends then ey?" Peter questioned, moving his hand away from Carla's neck.

"You got it sweetheart." Carla whispered to him and the pair of them hugged tightly for a couple of minutes, before Peter left Carla's flat and headed-home to sort his mind-out.

* * *

_**:). Please-Review! :). **_


	7. Uncontrollable

**A few weeks later…..**

Carla had been busy trying to avoid Peter since the last-time that they had met-up. If she had allowed herself to believe for just one second that what Peter had told her was true, that he did actually love her, then she knew that it would get both of them into a lot of trouble. And she couldn't do that to herself, not after everything that had happened between the pair of them, and more importantly she couldn't do that to Peter.

As Carla walked-out of the factory and headed-over towards the Rovers-Return, she heard the sound of a very, overly familiar voice calling-her name.

"Carla! Carla!" Peter called as he ran to catch-up with her.

Carla turned-around to face Peter with a smile as she stopped outside Ken and Deirdre's, maybe their conversation would be limited to the simple things if Peter sub-consciously knew that his Father and Step-Mother could walk-out-of the door at any-second.

"Hiya." Carla said with a friendly voice.

"Alright there stranger? Ya know people are gonna start to think that we've fallen-out or something. Been avoiding me have ya?" Peter said, slightly out of breath from where he had been running so he leaned-over and rested his hands on his knees.

"Yeah sorry about that I've urm…..I've been busy know….." Carla said, making-up excuses. "Anyway, who's gonna care if we've fallen-out when I've just made ya breathless without even kissing ya?" Carla said with a cheeky-wink.

"Heyyy. Don't tease-me with the thought….." Peter said in a deep and quiet voice so that no-one else could hear-it but the pair of them.

"Peter you know fully-well that I can't do that….." Carla teased the man.

"Ah I guess not. Fair-Enough." Peter said, shrugging the thought-away.

It was practically an affair already. Apart from the fact that they weren't actually together in anyway shape or form. They were just sneaking-around like they had something to hide. But they didn't have anything to hide, their feelings for each-other perhaps, yes, but not anything like an affair.

"I'll see ya around then?" Carla questioned.

"I suppose so…..Unless…..Well…..Is ya flat free?" Peter asked cheekily.

"Peter sh someone could over-hear this conversation. Ya know…..Norris is always on the prowl for the Latest-Street-Gossip, not even beginning to mention the fact that Leanne could walk around the corner any minute now.

"Yeah well what's wrong with a bit of gossip, if Leanne found-out then I could really get me hands on ya couldn't I?" Peter flirted.

"Simon. That's what's wrong with gossip Peter." Carla responded, refusing to give-into his constant-flirting this-morning.

Peter sighed at the thought of Simon. He loved that little-lad more than anything in the whole-wide world, even-more than he loved Carla, but he didn't half get in the way of things sometimes.

"I guess you're right…..Simon has to come-first….." Peter trailed-off sadly.

"Yes he does and don't you go forgetting that…..Ever…..Okay?"

"Alright….." Peter said.

"That doesn't convince me." Carla told Peter straightly.

"Yeah well it should do….I've nearly ruined that kid's life far too many times in the past…..I can't do that to him again…..I won't…..Even if that means staying-away from you for a bit longer….." Peter said, determined to keep Simon happy from now-on.

"Uh a lot longer Peter, but thank-you, that was a lot more convincing than before." Carla said as he slyly took a hold of Peter's hand and squeezed-it flirtatiously before she then let-go of it and strutted-past Peter with a cheeky-smile spread across her face as she headed-into the Rovers.

As she reached the door she turned-around to face Peter and chuckle at his completely confused-face. "So…..Are you coming-in then or what?" Carla asked-him and he quickly followed her inside the pub to have a drink with her.

* * *

The pair of them were enjoying their orange-juices together in the pub, and Carla had to admit, all she could think about was kissing Peter again. She so wished that she could. But she knew that any kind-of affair was banned for Simon's sake.

"So how is Simon anyway?" Carla asked as they grabbed a table together and both took their seats opposite one-another.

"Yeah…..Yeah he's fine…..Just fine….." Peter trailed-off, the more 'normal' the conversation was getting the more awkward it was becoming for Peter and Carla, knowing fully-well just how the other-one felt-about them.

"Good….." Carla finished.

"Look. Carla this isn't working….." Peter stated.

"Oh well I'm sorry if I'm boring ya….." Carla chuckled.

"No. Not he conversation…..Us…..Just being friends…..It's not possible anymore…..We need to either move-further0forward in this friendship or not see each-other at-all…..Now which one do you want it to be?" Peter asked-her, putting-it simply so not to confuse things.

"Peter. I can't believe you're putting-me in this position….."

"Yeah well I am so deal-with-it." Peter said, speaking his words quietly so that no-one except himself and Carla could-hear-them.

"I don't know Peter…..Let me think about this? Just give-me a bit of time…..Please Peter?" She pleaded-with-him.

"But that means that I have to see you again." Peter told-her seriously. He really didn't know just how-much longer that he could keep-this whole 'we're just friends' thing up-for.

"Peter I'm not just gonna drop-our close-friendship with one-another just because you can't control you're feelings for me. Now get a grip will you?" Carla told Peter harshly before she walked-out-of the pub-angrily.

Peter sighed. He hadn't intended for this to turn into an argument with Carla. Anything But.


	8. The Last Roll Of The Dice

Peter sat in the pub for around half an hour after Carla left, and then decided to text her.

_**Peter: **I'm sorry. I don't wanna fall out with u Carla. X._

_**Carla: **Apology Accepted. XxX. _

_**Peter: **Can we meet? X. _

_**Carla: **Factory. 30 Mins. I'll send them away early. XxX. _

_**Peter: **Gr8. Thx. X. _

_**Carla: **Only b'cuz it's u Peter. XxX. _

_**Peter: **Yh I No. C u in a bit. _

Half-an-hour later and Peter was on his way to the factory to meet Carla.

"Carla?" He called as he walked through the darkened and empty factory.

"Dead on time. Wow. I'm Impressed." Carla said to Peter cheekily as she appeared from the inside of her office and greeted Peter with a kiss on the cheek and a hug.

"So have you made a decision then?" Peter asked as he released the both of them from the hug.

"Ah, I was kind-of hoping that you'd have dropped that thought by now Peter….." Carla told Peter truthfully.

"Yeah well I can't drop-it because my feelings for you haven't changed Carla. Ya know what? Part of me still loves Leanne, and that part of me wants to make-things work with her, but then the rest of me is saying that it's you that I love, and that it's you that I should be with!" Peter told Carla, hoping to convince her that she was worth cheating on Leanne for.

"Peter. Just last-month you flipped-out at Leanne for cheating on you with Nick. And now you want to start an affair with me? What's that all about Peter?" Carla interrogated.

"But Leanne didn't love Nick! Nick just gave-her what I couldn't whilst I was stuck in that hospital-bed recovering after the tram-crash. And who could blame her? Yeah I was angry when I first found-out, but now…..Nah, I was no use to her…..I'm no use to anybody…..You're the only one who gets-me Carla, like properly gets-me, and that's why we should be together!" Peter told Carla passionately.

"Oh I Dunno Peter. You know how I feel-about-you, I love you more than anyone in this whole-wide world. But…..I can't do that to Leanne. Things are bad-enough as they are between us two, me being with you…..She'd kill-me Peter. She couldn't forgive-me for stealing-you from her. Come-on Peter this isn't gonna work….." Carla went to carry-on speaking, but she was distracted by Peter passionately kissing her on the lips.

Carla knew that she had to push-him-away from her right there and then. But she couldn't. She just could not bring herself to stop his kisses, and so Carla had no-choice but to respond to them with the same-amount of passion as she walked Peter over to the wall and allowed-him to lean-against it as they kissed.

The pair were interrupted by Peter's phone ringing. It was Leanne.

"Sorry….." Peter said before he answered his phone.

"_Hello?" _Peter said, slightly out-of-breath from the kissing.

"_Peter where are you, I was beginning to get worried about ya?" _Leanne asked him, sternly but worriedly.

"_Ah sorry love I had an urgent meeting that I had to attend….." _Peter lied to Leanne, and Carla had to hold-in the laughter as she found Peter's pathetic attempts at lying quite-amusing.

"_Oh Right. Well, when do you recon you'll be home? I miss ya that's all….." _Leanne said.

"_I shouldn't be too long. I'll urm…..I'll try and escape soon if I can…..It's just the leader of this meeting he urm…..He won't stop talking you now how it is….." _Peter said, continuing to lie to Leanne.

"_Alright then. Well I'll see you later okay?" _Leanne asked.

"_Okay then love. Bye." _Peter said before hanging-up the phone as he felt Carla grab his shirt to pull-him closer to her as they kissed-again.

"Peter Barlow what a rubbish-liar you are." Carla said before she continued to kiss Peter.

"Oh well I'm sorry…..But right at this very-moment, I couldn't care-less." Peter said before he was dragged-into Carla's Office where the pair of them continued there romantic time together.

"Let me make this clear Peter. This is NOT a full-on affair alright. Outside of this factory, we are just friends, and nothing-more…..I don't want to wreck your relationship with Leanne, Peter. But sometimes I just can't resist ya…..And besides it was either you or the bottle of vodka which is hidden in the bottom-drawer of my desk…..So you seemed-like the better, and more healthy option.

Peter smiled flirtatiously at Carla. "Alright Then. So now you are comparing me to a bottle of vodka…..Well I guess all addicts fall-off the wagon every so often…..So urm…..As-long as we're addicted to each-other, then I'm just gonna have to try and say sober of you Carla Connor. Because too much of you could ruin everything." Peter said before he kissed Carla once-more. "That kiss was the last-sip of vodka left in the bottle….."

"Well you better get-yourself back-on the wagon then Peter Barlow." Carla said as she led Peter towards the double-doors of the factory.

"Back on the wagon it is then. Cya Carla." Peter said in a quiet but deep-voice.

"Bye Peter." Carla said as she watched-him walk-away from the factory before heading-back home to Leanne.

Carla shut the factory-doors behind-her and then leaned-against them, a large-smile spreading right-across her face. "Peter Barlow…..My new addiction after a bad-day….." Carla told-herself with a cheeky-giggle.


	9. Excuses

**Okay. So the next 2 Chapter are set on the 2nd of July 2011. – Leanne's Birthday! – She does find out that Stella is her Mum, however this is a Carla and Peter fic so you won't see that much of her finding-out!**

* * *

"Happy Birthday Love!" Peter said happily to Leanne as she walked-out of their bedroom and into the living-room.

"Aww Thanks." Leanne said happily, sweetly kissing Peter's cheek before Simon ran-over to her and hugged her tightly.

"Happy Birthday Mum!" Simon said excitedly.

"Aww thanks Si." She replied as Si handed-her his present and card.

Leanne put the presents to the side before she smiled at Peter. "So, when do I get the present from you then Mister?" Leanne asked cheekily.

"Ohhh you'll get it later-on love!" Peter said before he phone bleeped. It was Carla. Peter backed-away to the other-side of the room to text Carla, as Leanne, oblivious to what was going-on between Peter and Carla, continued to chat to Simon...

_**Carla: **Hey. Can I c u 2day? XxX_

_**Peter: **It's Leanne b-day. Does it have to be 2day? X_

_**Carla: **I guess not. I miss U! XxX_

_**Peter: **Soz love. R u gonna be in the pub l8r? Me n Leanne will b. X_

_**Carla: **Well I wasn't gonna b, but if it means that I can c u…..XxX_

_**Peter: **I can't promise anythin. But I'm sure that Leanne will b 2 busy partyin to pay me any attention. So maybe. X_

_**Carla: **K. I'll hang-about. I'll be waitin for ya. XxX_

_**Peter: **K. Just don't get ya hopes up. I don't wanna spoil Leanne's day. X_

_**Carla: **Of-Course u don't darlin. I Luv U! XxX_

_**Peter: **I No U Do…..X_

Peter soon put the phone away and then got back to making sure that Leanne enjoyed her birthday. He still loved-Leanne. And very much so. But Peter didn't know how long it would take-him before he needed Carla's love and attention again…..

"Are you alright love? You're quiet?" Leanne asked Peter, slightly concerned for him.

"I'm fine. I'm just thinking about what a great day we're gonna have that's all….." Peter trailed-off happily.

"Oh of-course you are…..But I hope you're thinking about the night-time too….." Leanne flirted with Peter with a cheeky-wink.

"Oh Yeah. How could I forget?" Peter replied with a small-chuckle.

"EWWW!" Simon said loudly as he realised what they were talking about.

* * *

Back at Carla's flat. She was sat on the sofa with Michelle.

"Carla we really need to open-up the factory ya know….." Michelle told Carla truthfully, and Carla knew that she was right.

"Yeah I know we do….." Carla trailed-off as her phone started to ring. It was Peter.

_**Carla: **Hey! _

_**Peter: **Hey. Leanne's in the shower and Simon's in his room getting dressed, so I haven't got long. But I'm stuffed! I forgot to get Leanne's birthday present. Fancy coming to the shops with me to get her something? I'm rubbish with girly things anyway….._

_**Carla: **Ohhh you're gonna be in the dog-house if you're not careful! _

_**Peter: **So are you coming with me or not? I'll meet you in the Bookies?_

_**Carla: **Sure…..When?_

_**Peter: **Great! In 10. Don't be late. If Leanne finds-out that I've forgotten about her birthday-present then I'll never live-it down! _

_**Carla: **Alright! Cya then. Bye. _

_**Peter: **Bye. _

Carla put the phone-down and then turned-back to face Michelle, laughing as she thought about what Peter had just told-her.

"Who was that?" Michelle asked. "And what's so funny?" She added-onto the end.

"That was Peter. He's forgotten to get Leanne's birthday present. I said that I'd go with him to help him choose something before Leanne notices that he's forgotten….." Carla revealed to Michelle, glad that this excuse to see Peter was actually the truth, and it didn't seem suspicious at-all!

"Oh Dear!" Michelle said mid-laughter. "Well tell-him from me that I think he's an idiot for forgetting!"

"Oh I'll make-sure that he knows that….." Carla said with a cheeky-smile. "But you're gonna have to hold the fort at the factory for me!" Carla commanded.

"Ugh. I knew there was a 'But' coming! Fine I'll go and open-up!" Michelle groaned before leaving the flat and heading-towards the Factory to start work for the day.

* * *

After giving Leanne a goodbye birthday kiss, and said goodbye to Simon for the day, Peter headed-down to the Bookies to meet-Carla.

She arrived dead-on-time as planned and the two of them headed-into town, glad to be in each-others company.

They walked through town, hand-in-hand, knowing that as it was a week-day, no-one from the street would be out shopping so they could act like a genuine couple without being spotted by anyone that they knew.

"Oh. A message from Michelle for ya. Apparently you're an idiot for forgetting." Carla teased Peter as they headed-towards Carla's favourite jewellery shop. Where they were going to buy Leanne's present from.

Peter chuckled in response. "Well the thing is…..Is that I didn't exactly just forget her birthday altogether. I just….."

"Didn't Remember." Carla joked as she finished-off his sentence for him.

"No, I just forgot that to buy her a present, I was gonna need to go present-shopping….." Peter told Carla truthfully with large-smiles spread-across both of their faces.

"Oh Peter what are ya like ey?" Carla said as she stopped Peter in his tracks, turning to face him and playing with either-side of his un-done leather-jacket. "Listen You. The jewellery shop is just over-there….." Carla trailed-off, pointing to just behind Peter. "But if we go in-there chatting about Leanne…..But also acting like a couple, then it's gonna look a little weird, so just pretend that you're choosing a necklace or something for me yeah?" Carla suggested to Peter.

Peter kissed Carla on the lips as she finished-speaking. "You Miss Connor. Are far to sneaky for your own-good!" Peter joked, nudging her teasingly as they messed-around together, before the pair of them then headed-into the jewellery shop which was just a few-metres-away-now.

* * *

After buying a gorgeous necklace for Leanne, Peter and Carla headed-back to Coronation Street, but they decided to walk-through the back-alley-ways so they could go-on pretending to be a couple for just that little-bit longer.

"Well then Mr Barlow, it's been a pleasure spending time with you this morning." Carla said to Peter flirtatiously as they stopped half-way down an alley-way. She took either-side of Peter's leather-jacket and used her grip on it to move-him back against the wall. Carla then kissed Peter on the lips with a smile on her face.

"Yeah…..Shame we can't do this more often….." Peter trailed-off happily as the pair of them kissed-again.

"Ah well…..Absence makes the heart…..And all that….." Carla said, teasing Peter as her kisses ran-down his jaw-line and onto his neck.

"Too true." Peter replied as he moved Carla's head back so that he could look-into her eyes once-again.

"Are you still coming to the pub tonight?" Peter asked her softly.

"Of-Course I am." Carla giggled as Peter's hands rested on her waist and she rested her arms onto his shoulders as her hands lightly toyed with the short-hair on the back of his head.

"Good. I will see you there then." Peter said with his deep and rather-attractive voice which he owned.

"You will indeed." Carla replied, kissing Peter passionately before walking-off down the alley, whilst Peter watched her walked-out of his sight.


	10. Excuses Part 2

**It's still Leanne's Birthday! Everyone is at the Rovers Return for her surprise birthday party! Leanne, Peter, and Simon have already arrived and the party has begun. – Leanne has not yet found-out that Stella is her Mum.**

* * *

Peter and Leanne were stood at the bar together, trying to grab a moment together where it was just the two of them. Although, this was more Leanne's ideas than Peter's.

"Hey Love. Ya know you didn't get your birthday present this morning? Well that's because I wanted to give-it to you now!" Peter told her sweetly.

"Awww okay then." Leanne said, clueless to the fact that Carla had helped Peter choose the present.

Peter handed Leanne her present and she opened-it, before she gasped in delight as she saw the beautiful sparkling necklace glowing in its case.

"Oh my goodness Peter it's gorgeous!" Leanne said gratefully. "Awww Thank-You!" She said before giving-him a peck on the cheek.

"So are you gonna put-it on then?" Peter asked her innocently.

"What dya think I'm doing now?" Leanne replied with a slight giggle as she put the necklace around her neck and then fastened-it-up. She then placed her hands on Peter's chest and rested her forehead against his. "I love you." She told-him before she then leaned-in for a kiss on the lips.

The group of girls looked-over at Leanne and Peter and "aww'd" at them as Carla entered The Rover Return. Her attention was immediately drawn to Leanne and Peter kissing, and Carla had to force herself to smile at the sight despite having this temptation deep-inside of her to go and whisk Peter away from Leanne for the evening. But it was Leanne's birthday, and she couldn't do that to her.

Peter suddenly brought the kiss to an end as he caught-sight of Carla in the corner of his eye. "Hey listen love, I'm just gonna go outside for a fag….." Peter told Leanne, but it wasn't a lie…..He WAS going outside for a cigarette, but as-far as he was concerned it was just another excuse to see Carla.

Peter caught eye-contact with Carla as he headed-towards the back-door, otherwise known as the smoking-area of the pub, and nodded for her to follow-him. Carla smiled cheekily and followed-Peter, leaving a minute or so after-him so that their exit from the party wasn't quite so obvious.

Carla appeared outside to find Peter sat faced-away from the door on the bench to her left. "Smoking is a bad-habit ya know?" Carla said flirtatiously as she stood in the doorway, leaning against the door-frame.

Peter stood-up at the sound of Carla's voice and turned to face-her. "Yeah well so are you, some-things are just to addictive to give-up…..I should know that better than anyone….." Peter trailed-off, as he secretly took Carla's hand and gently pulled her forwards so that the door swung shut behind-her.

As soon as the door was firmly shut, Peter placed his hands around Carla's waist and then leaned-into kiss her on the lips, but she placed her index finger over his lips to stop-him from doing-so. "Uh…..Eager!" Carla teased as she removed herself from Peter's grip.

"What?" Peter asked, slightly confused as to why she had just rejected his offer of a kiss.

"It's Leanne's birthday Peter. And as-much as it kills me to say this to ya…..You shouldn't be with me on your wife's birthday! Now go and show her the time of her life…..I know your capable of it….." Carla told him firmly, but with a cheeky-wink added-onto the end as she finished speaking.

Peter sighed, replacing his hands back onto Carla's waist as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "She liked the necklace." Peter whispered.

"Good. I'm Glad." Carla replied.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay with me whilst I have a cigarette?" Peter asked her quietly.

"Peter Barlow have you not listened to a word that I've said?..." Carla began seductively. "Smoking. Is a bad-habit…..And the smell, it latches onto you like a leech, and then won't disappear, even when you try and wash-it away….." She trailed-off, teasing Peter anymore as her mouth lingered ever-closer to his lips, but never-once did they collide, or even touch.

"Well maybe smoking wouldn't seem so addictive if I had something else to distract me from it….." Peter trailed-off, leaning-in for a kiss, and this time, Carla gave-into him and they began kissing passionately, blissfully unaware that someone could walk-through that door at any-minute now.

* * *

Meanwhile, Stella had just revealed to Leanne that she was her Mum, and as-if true to form Leanne had kicked-off about-it and was heading-out the back to find Peter, closely followed by an upset Stella.

"I don't want to hear-it Stella! Just leave-me alone alright?" Leanne shouted as she approached the door that led through the smoking-area out the back of the pub.

* * *

Luckily, both Carla and Peter heard Leanne's voice and immediately pulled-away from each-other. Peter just about had time to manage to light-up a cigarette, before Leanne opened the door and walked-over to Peter in floods of tears. The close-shave had shaken-Peter-up a little and so wasn't quite sure how to respond to Leanne as she ranted at him.

"You knew didn't ya?" Leanne shouted at him.

"Uh…..Knew what love?" Peter asked, unaware of what had gone-on as he had been so distracted by Carla's attention to him.

"That Stella is my Mum!" Leanne screeched.

Peter looked-down and sighed sadly. "Yes love yes I did." Peter replied as Carla watched-on. Leanne looked-at Carla.

"And what do ya think YOU'RE doing here? GET-OUT!" Leanne screamed at Carla, and she quietly made-her way-out, deciding that this was not the time to argue with Leanne, unless she wanted to leave the pub tonight with a black-eye.

"Don't take-this-out on Carla love!" Peter told Leanne firmly.

"Oh so not only do you keep a MASSIVE secret from me, you also decide that I'm wrong to be upset about this? Well ya know what Peter, why don't you just go if you're gonna be like that!" Leanne told Peter viciously as she seethed with anger.

Stella walked-in at that moment. "Leanne don't take this out on Peter! He wanted to tell-ya. But I made him promise that he wouldn't. Because I wanted to be the one to tell-ya…..But not like this Leanne! Not like this!" Stella told her daughter tearfully, but Leanne just stormed-out of the pub, with Peter in tow.

* * *

Back at the flat, Leanne had gone to bed early, hoping that she could sleep all of this off like it was just some-kind-of bad-dream. With some time to himself, Peter decided to text Carla.

_**Peter: **I can't do this anymore. X_

_**Carla: **Wat? Ring me? XxX _

_**Peter: **I can't. Leanne might hear-me & I'm in enuf trouble as it is. X_

_**Carla: **Then come round. Make an excuse to go out. Ya can't just dump me over text Peter? XxX _

_**Peter: **Can we talk tomoz or summin? X_

_**Carla: **I won't sleep 2nite unless I no wat is happenin. XxX _

_**Peter: **Fine. I think Lee's asleep. I'll c if I can leave a note or summin. Not promisin anything tho. X _

_**Carla: **Thank U. I no it can't be easy for ya. C u in a bit. XxX_

Peter then put the phone-down and wrote a note to Leanne:…..

_Needed to clear my head…..Gonna go for a walk and then stay at a mate's for the night…..I promise you I'm not back on the booze…..I love you…..We'll try and sort everything out in the morning yeah?_

_Everything's gonna be okay! _

_I love you more than anything love. _

_Peter. xxxxx_

* * *

It wasn't long until Peter had arrived at Carla's and was pacing up and down her living-room as Carla watched-him stress-out.

"What's happened Peter? What were those texts all about earlier?" Carla asked him, not wanting to loose her man, even-if he was only half-hers, just the thought that she could hold-him made her feel happier with her life.

"Leanne needs me. She's just found-out that Stella is her actual Mother…..It's shaken-her whole-life-up…..And me being with you is just gonna shake-it-up even-more. I mean…..We were this close to her catching-us earlier-on Carla!" Peter told-her truthfully.

"Then fine, we can just be more careful in the future. I mean…..Yeah. How stupid must we have been? We were trying to steal a cheeky moment together out of the back of the pub…..Someone was bound to interrupt-us…..But if we agree to only meet-here from now-on…..Then everything will be fine!" Carla said, trying to win Peter back-over to her. "Come-on Peter. We need-each-other! I love ya! I love ya more than anything in the world…..The last-person I loved as-much as I love you was Liam…..And you know that I'm still getting-over him. But that's how much I love ya Peter! And that'd why you can't just give-up on us now…..Take a risk! Come-On!" She continued to try and push-him back into their steamy-affair type-thing.

Peter walked-over to Carla and placed his hand gently against the side of her neck. "Carla. You know how I felt about you…..You know that I love you…..But right-now…..I love Leanne just as-much, and I want to get-things back on track with us. She's my wife…..I can't just give her up. I made a commitment to her Carla. I promised that we'd stay together for better or for worse! And Leanne and I haven't exactly had the chance to see some of the better stuff yet…..And maybe I want to see the better side to our marriage…..Which…..As much as it's gonna kill-me…..Is why we can't see each-other anymore." Peter broke-it too her, knowing that this was going to devastate Carla. But right-now, Peter's love for Leanne had to come-first.

"But Peter!" Carla begged.

"Carla. I'm not saying that there won't be a place for us in the future…..But right-now…..It's Leanne I want, and it's Leanne that I need to be with…..My feelings for you aren't gonna go-away…..And just like the alcohol, there are gonna be times and when I find myself holding-you again…..But we can't do this anymore!" Peter told Carla, trying to appear confident, but Carla knew that he was hating every-minute of this break-up as much as she was.

The couple kissed each-other passionately for what was perhaps the last-time that they would get the chance to for a while. Peter spent the night at Carla's…..But not with her…..He insisted that he was going to sleep on the sofa…..Knowing that if they were to sleep-together then it would just make properly finishing this affair all the more-harder to do.

* * *

**_Sorry to any Carter fans reading this! It just had to be done. :-P_  
**

**_But Please Do Review. (-:_**


	11. The 'happily ever after ending'

**A week later...**

* * *

Peter had decided to treat Leanne to a posh meal, he regretted ever cheating on her, and unknown to Leanne, Peter was trying to make-things up to her. Leanne was still oblivious to the fact that Peter had cheated on her, but as far as Peter concerned, now that it was over, she never needed to know, and he was hoping that Carla would be having the same-thoughts right-now. Simon was at Ken and Deirdre's for the night, so it was just the pair of them.

"Are you nearly ready love?" Peter asked, doing the last button of his suit-jacket up in the living-room as he waited for Leanne to emerge from the bedroom.

"Just coming! I can't do me dress up!" Leanne giggled as she opened the bedroom door and walked-over to Peter. "Do it up for us will ya?" Leanne asked and Peter laughed.

"Come-here you daft thing!" Peter joked as he zipped Leanne's dress-up for her. "There we go. Now let me see ya!" Peter requested and Leanne did a twirl for him.

"You look gorgeous!" Peter stated happily as he placed his hands onto Leanne's waist.

"Ah well I could day the same about you Mr Barlow!" Leanne said flirtatiously as she wrapped her arms around Peter's neck, gently kissing him on the lips, before taking a-hold of his hands and then dragging him down the stairs, out of the front-door and into the car.

Meanwhile, Carla had been texting Peter all-evening, in hope that she might at-least get a reply off of him, even if it just said _'Go Away'_ at-least it was a reply.

Carla's texts to Peter consisted-of…..

'_I miss u!'_

'_Wanna go 4 a coffee sometime?' _

'_I still feel the same way about u.' _

'_I no u still love me…..well I hope u do anyway…..'_

'_Ignoring me r u? It won't work Peter…..I Luv U!' _

Truth was, Peter's phone had simply been switched-off all-evening, he wasn't intentionally ignoring Carla, he just hadn't looked-at his phone yet.

It wasn't long until Peter and Leanne had arrived at the restaurant and were eating their meals together.

"So then love, are you enjoying this?" Peter asked Leanne happily.

"Of-Course I am." Leanne said as she reached for Peter's hand across the table and took-it into her own hand. "And I'm glad we came-out tonight, just the two of us, without our Si, I feel like we haven't been able to be a proper couple since…..Well…..To be honest since way before the tram-crash, and I know that some of that is my own fault for cheating on you with Nick…..But I'm glad that we're back on track now!" Leanne told her husband excitedly before she kissed the back of Peter's hand before continuing to eat her meal.

Whilst the couple waited for their dessert to arrive, Peter checked his phone…..5 Texts from Carla and 3 missed-calls. "Uh, sorry love, I just need to ring someone a sec…..It's urm…..Someone from my support-group, and they've been trying to contact me all evening but I've had my phone-off. Sorry about this I won't be long." Peter told Leanne before he walked-out of the main-doors to the restaurant, and rang Carla.

_**Phone-Conversation between Peter and Carla. **_

_**Carla: **Hi Peter….._

_**Peter: **Hiya Carla, listen what do you want? _

_**Carla: **I want you Peter. Now. I can't wait in hope that one day things will fizzle out between you and Leanne…..I have to have you with me, Peter, whether it's an affair or the real-thing…..It's you that I love, and I wouldn't have it any-other way!_

_**Peter: **Woah. Stop. Carla. We ended-things because I'm in love with Leanne and I want to be with Leanne. And nothing has changed, so please just leave-me alone. _

_**Carla: **What if I can't leave you alone Peter? What if I love you to much to leave you alone? And I know that you feel the same-way about me….._

_**Peter: **Carla don't do this to me….._

_**Carla: **Well we all know that you've been married to two women before now….._

_**Peter: **Oh so you want to marry-me now do you? And what do you think your doing bringing my messed-up past into this? I'd rather that history didn't repeat itself if that's quite alright with you Carla! _

_**Carla: **Alright I'm sorry that was over the mark….._

_**Peter: **It wasn't just over the mark Carla; it was miles away from it. Now just let-me get back to my wife will you? Look I hoped that we could still be friends…..And I still hope that…..But you're not making-it easy for-me Carla! _

_**Carla: **How about I meet-you sometime? We can go for a coffee somewhere and try and re-build this friendship of ours? What dya think ey? _

_**Peter: **Yeah that's fine. Listen, just text me or something…..I've gotta go. I'll cya Carla. _

_**Carla: **Bye Peter. _

Peter returned into the restaurant in a bad-mood as he plonked himself back-down onto his chair.

"Oh what's up with you?" Leanne asked jokingly.

"Nothing….." Peter replied, and the smile on Leanne's face faded as she realised that the man who she loved was obviously upset about something.

"Come-On. We both know that that's not true…..So tell-me…..What's wrong?" Leanne asked.

"I told you Leanne. It's nothing. So let's just leave-it at that alright!" Peter said frustratedly.

"Peter you're beginning to worry me now….." Leanne trailed-off calmly.

"I'm sorry love…..I'll be fine once it's sorted-out…..Look, can we just go-home?…..I'm over-heated and stressed-out….." Peter trailed-off.

"Alright…..Let's go then…..I'm sure I can think of a few-ways to cheer-you-up a little….." Leanne suggested with a cheeky-smile and Peter allowed a small-smile to escape upon his lips in response to what he knew that she was thinking...

* * *

Carla watched-on as she spotted Leanne and Peter heading-into their flat together, all-loved-up like they hadn't a care in the world. She wished she took take Leanne's place and that there wouldn't be any problems caused by it…..But she knew that-that sort-of thing only happened-in a dream-world…..Something that Carla could only wish and hope existed, but she knew that really…..That the whole 'happily ever-after ending' was nowhere to be found. Not in this world.

* * *

Back in Peter and Leanne's flat, Leanne kissed Peter as she worked his suit-jacket-off, before then throwing-it to the floor and leading Peter into the bedroom...

* * *

**_Please-Review!_**


	12. Good To Bad News

**So,**_** just a reminder for this chapter that I am kind-of roughly following the storylines, but obviously putting my own 'Carter flavoured' tweak to them, and some other things will obviously be different about them, as you will see in this chapter! :)**_

* * *

The next morning, Leanne was up-early as she ran to the toilet and was violently sick everywhere. Peter awoke as he heard her, and rushed to her side, allowing her to fall back into his chest as she finished throwing-up.

"Ergh. I'm sorry for waking you." Leanne said to Peter, tiredly.

"Hey it's alright love. Are you okay?" Peter asked.

"Yeah…..I think I might have caught a bug or something….." She trailed-off.

"You don't think you're….." Peter trailed-off, not finishing his sentence.

"What?" Leanne questioned.

"Well…..Is there any chance that you could be pregnant?" Peter asked, deciding to get straight to the point rather-than pussy-footing his way around the sensitive subject.

"Well…..I guess there is a chance yeah….." Leanne trailed-off.

Peter sighed; it was too soon for him after finishing things with Carla. And he was already dreading breaking the news to her. "Should we go-out and buy a pregnancy test then? Just to be sure?" Peter asked.

"Yeah I guess we should….." Leanne told Peter as they stood-up together.

"Alright. Well how about…..You stay here and get a bit more sleep, and I'll go-out and buy one…..Okay?" Peter double-checked.

"Yeah, that'd be great. Thank-You." Leanne said to Peter, gratefully. She was thankful that he was back to his old-lovely-self recently.

"That's Okay Love." Peter said as he walked-out of the door. "I'll cya later yeah. I love you." Peter told Leanne before heading down the stairs and out onto The Street. At-least this gave-him some time to talk to Carla.

* * *

It was still early when Peter reached Carla's flat, it was only around 7 o Clock in the morning, so Peter just hoped that Carla was awake already.

As the buzzer went, Peter was relieved to hear footsteps approaching the door from the other side of it. Carla answered the phone. "Hello. Who is it?" She asked tiredly.

"It's Me." Peter replied simply.

And after buzzing Peter-up to the flat, Carla opened the door for him. She was till in her Pyjamas.

"Sorry I didn't mean to wake-you." Peter said as he walked-into her flat.

"Oh no don't worry about that. You Didn't wake-me-up at all. I've been awake for about 15 Minutes…..Anyway, what did you want Peter?" Carla asked as she sighed, tiredly.

Carla had barely finished speaking when Peter blurted-out what he was desperate to tell Carla.

"I think Leanne might be pregnant." Peter said simply.

"Ya What?" Carla asked.

"Do I have to spell it out for you? I think she's pregnant!" Peter said frustratedly as he paced up and down the room, taking deep-breaths as he did so. He was preparing himself for Carla's reaction to this news.

"Pregnant? Well how can she be? You've only been back on track with her for 5 Flamin' Minutes Peter!" Carla told Peter angrily in a raised-voice.

"I know. I know! And I'm sorry alright?" Peter responded, also in a raised-voice.

"Well…..When did you….." Carla trailed-off; knowing that Peter would know what she was on about. It saved her bringing-up that awkward topic of conversation.

"Uh. Last-night. We went out for a posh-meal, and then when we got back she…..I mean we…..Well you know what comes next….." Peter broke the bad-news to Carla. "And we weren't exactly…..Careful…..If ya get my drift….."

"And you're telling-me this, why, Peter?" Carla asked, confused why he had come-over so quickly after finding-out to tell Carla this news.

"Because I thought that you deserved to know…..And it also means that…..Well…..It means that there's no chance of us getting back-together….." Peter said, sighing sadly as he did so.

"You Idiot Peter!" Carla shouted, suddenly turning on him, as she charged towards him and then began to hit his chest violently. "You Complete. And Utter. IDIOT!" Carla screeched as the tears began to fall-freely down her face.

The only-way Peter saw fit to stop her, was to kiss-her with the same-amount of energy and force that she was hitting-him with, so he did-this, placing his hands around her waist, and quickly pulling-her towards-his face, before he then began kissing her vigorously.

After enjoying the kissing for few-minutes, Carla pushed-Peter away. "No. Oh No You Don't. You don't just win me back like this. Not like this Peter. There's no-way that I'm taking you back that easily after what you've just done to me!" Carla told-him firmly.

"SHE'S MY WIFE!" Peter shouted at Carla. "What was I supposed to do?….._'Oh Sorry Leanne…..No I won't sleep with you because I don't love you?'_ How could I do that to her? Because I DO love Leanne, Carla, and yes I know I love you more, but I want things to work with Leanne! And I want that baby!" Peter said, but he wasn't all that convincing this time-around. Not to Carla anyway.

"Yeah. Well you don't convince-me Peter. If you were so happy that Leanne might be pregnant…..Then you wouldn't be around-here right-now trying to calm-me down. If you loved Leanne as much as ya say ya do, then you'd be with her right-now, celebrating with her!" Carla told Peter angrily.

"I came-around here because I thought that you deserved to be one of the first to know Carla. Because I have that amount of respect for you Carla. Because I flamin' love you Carla! But I love Leanne too, which is why we can't be together. And it's why I'm gonna leave-now, in hope that you won't hate me so much one all of this bad-news sinks-in a bit." Peter finished, before he then walked-out of the door, shutting-it behind him before he then went to go and buy a pregnancy-test for Leanne.

* * *

"I'm back love!" Peter called as he arrived back-home.

"Did ya get-it?" Leanne asked.

"Yes. Of-Course I got-it love." Peter said calmly with a slight-laugh at Leanne's eagerness to just get-on with-it.

"Oh thank-goodness for that. Right well I'll just go into the bathroom, and then I'll come-back-out here and we'll hope for the best-right?" Leanne suggested to Peter.

"Sounds like a Plan to me." Peter told her, a fake-sweet-smile spread-across his face before she disappeared-off to do the test by herself.

10 Minutes later, and Leanne and Peter had just confirmed the news that Leanne was indeed pregnant after-all.

Leanne hugged Peter tightly as she smiled like she had never smiled-before. "I can't believe we did it Peter. We made our own baby. Simon is gonna have his own-little brother or sister!" Leanne told Peter ecstatically as she held onto him for dear-life.

"I know right…..And it's gonna be the luckiest little-thing in the world, because it is gonna have you as it's Mum…..It's own biological Mum."

"And you're gonna be the Dad. And Si is gonna be it's older-brother. And I can't wait until to arrives."

Peter laughed at Leanne's excitement. "Hey Calm-Down-Love, you've hardly been pregnant 5 Minutes" Peter Joked before Leanne hugged-him quickly again, giving-him a sweet-peck on the lips, before then getting-up to make Peter some breakfast.

"Are you not having any breakfast love?" Peter asked Leanne as he read a text from Carla.

"No I don't think I could stomach-it this-morning." Leanne told Peter happily, a permanent smile plastered-across her face as Peter finished reading Carla's text and began to reply.

* * *

_**Carla: **I'm sorry 4 kickin off earlier. I should have been happy 4 ya. XxX_

_**Peter: **That's OK. But r u really happy 4 us tho? X_

_**Carla: **Of-Course I Am. That's gr8 news. XxX_

_**Peter: **Well thank-u. X_

_**Carla: **No-Probs. I luv u. XxX _

_**Peter: **I no u do. And I luv u 2, but do u understand y we have 2 be apart? X_

_**Carla: **It's gonna take time 4 me 2 get used to the idea, but yh, I suppose I will understand. In time. XxX_

_**Peter: **Well Good. Hopefully we can be 2gether some-day yeah? X_

_**Carla: **Hopefully. Anyway. Congratulations Darlin. XxX _

_**Peter: **Thank-U! C u soon yh? X_

_**Carla: **Yh. Bye Peter. XxX_

_**Peter: **Bye Carla. X  
_

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	13. Decisions

_**Look out for the typical 'Carla lines!' This could be quite an amusing chapter! **_

Peter and Leanne spent the rest of the afternoon and evening celebrating, they had even been for a quick drink with Ken and Deirdre, who had accidentally found-out about the pregnancy mid-conversation.

As Peter got-up to get the drinks, Carla spotted-him and after greeting-him like a she would greet a friend. She quietly muttered something to him. "Meet me outside in 10." She told him before going to sit with Frank, her new business/actual partner. She had been single whilst she was having the affair with Peter, but Frank and Carla's relationship had developed quickly and they were now a pretty-serious couple…..Or at-least that is what Frank thought…..Carla wasn't so sure. She still loved Peter as far as she was concerned.

Peter soon made his excuses to Ken, Deirdre and Leanne, and then made his way outside to meet Carla, claiming-it as a 'fag-break.'

"What did you want?" Peter asked softly.

"Frank keeps going-on about how he plans for us to move-in together soon, and then he's already planning our wedding, and what kind-of parents we'll be!" Carla panicked.

"And?" Peter replied simply, which frustrated Carla.

"AND, I need to know where we stand before I can even begin to think about going the next-step with Frank you idiot!" Carla told Peter truthfully, but harshly.

"I've told-you, Leanne's pregnant. There's no-way we can get back-together now!" Peter told Carla as she sighed with disappointment.

"Are you certain about this Peter? Because once I've moved-in with Frank then…..Then there's no going-back. That'd be it. Us. We'd be over. For Good. So are you 100% sure about this?" Carla asked him delicately.

Peter looked-down and thought about things. "Don't move-in with Frank." Peter practically Carla. "We can't be together…..Well…..Not yet…..Maybe…..Maybe once the baby is born and is settled with Leanne…..I can just…..Slip-Away?" Peter suggested. He was desperate.

"Peter. Are you really that stupid? One, we've got about 9 Months to wait until that baby is even born. And Two. When that baby IS eventually born, you aren't gonna want-to leave Leanne. You'll fall back-in love with her all over again. And then where would that leave-us hey? We'd be over. Zoomf. Dissolved into thin-air. Vanished Forever. You won't even want to know me!" Carla told Peter, frustratedly.

"Okay that was a stupid thing to say. But I don't think I could cope, seeing you with Frank, knowing that he gets to fall-asleep next to you at night, and wake-up next to you in the morning." Peter told Carla.

"He does that already Peter, 3 times a week." Carla replied as Peter realised just how fast that Frank and Carla were moving-forward in their relationship. If he didn't find a way to leave Leanne soon, then he'd end-up loosing Carla forever. But then-again, if he left Leanne now, then he'd probably never get to see their baby. And the thought of both of those things nearly killed-Peter.

"But you know what I mean Carla. You know that I still have feelings for you. But it's Leanne that's the problem, not you…..Leanne…..She's pregnant with MY baby." Peter said, trying to convince Carla to wait for him, except not-much was going to convince Carla that Peter was worth waiting that long for without a guarantee that he would end-up as hers in the end.

"It takes two Peter….." Carla trailed-off, not amused by Peter's naive opinion on the whole-situation.

"Yeah and don't You know it Carla! Paul, Tony, Liam…..Even Trevor…..What am I? One of the few lucky-ones who managed to escape from you before we reached you bed!" Peter sniped at Carla.

"That was too far and you know it Peter!" Carla snapped-back. "You haven't exactly got a great track-record yourself…..Have ya darling? Come-on…..I've got the Local Bigamist standing right-here infront of me!…..What kind-of guy marries two-woman? Oh and then Leanne trotted-on into your life…..Ex-Prostitute may I say! Oh, and didn't you EVEN date Michelle for a little-while, even SHE got bored of ya after a while, oh and then she even went and rubbed it in that little bit further by getting engaged to your best-mate! But Leanne had returned by then and you had fallen-in love with her all over again!" Carla spoke with a huge amount of sarcasm in her voice. "I guess it was only a matter of time until it was MY turn Peter…..Except, like you said, I didn't even get as far as the bedroom with you before you called-it off!"

Peter looked at Carla, not-liking this side to her as much as the side to her in which he had-had an affair with. "And you said I went too far? Well that was just below the belt Carla!" Peter told her, disappointed that she had revealed that nasty side of her two him.

"Below the belt ey? Well that's not the only thing below _**your **_belt is it Peter….." Carla said comically as she giggled before she then winked at Peter and walked back-into the Rovers.

"That's not funny Carla!" Peter told-her as he tried not to laugh at her sneaky-comments. But Peter soon realised that he didn't know what Carla's decision was…..


End file.
